Aftermath of a 4-3 loss: Clowe’s preferred target, comparing losses, getting the split — and more

Back at the hotel, print edition stories filed. And lots of leftover material that probably deserves an audience sooner rather than later.

In no particular order:

*****Ryane Clowe played down that bit of nastiness at the end of Game 4 that earned four minutes in roughing penalties for both himself and Detroit forward Justin Abdelkader.

“Just a little scrum there,” he said.

But Clowe let it be known he had a preferred target: “I wish it was (Niklas) Kronwall lining up against me, but that’s all right.”

*****Yes, the Sharks fell behind early, just like they did a year ago. But there was a big difference between this 4-3 loss and that 7-1 embarrassment.

“We fought,” said defenseman Dan Boyle. “We got a big first goal there at the end of the period and got one in the second, got one in the third. They’re good players. We’ve just got to show a little more poise coming out of the gate early and it probably cost us the game.”

You always hear that sometimes it’s easier to shake off a trouncing then a narrow loss, so I figured this would be a good time to test that theory and asked Todd McLellan for his sense of the comparison — would that 7-1 loss be easier to come back from than this one, for example.

“Recovery from lopsided or one goal doesn’t matter,” he said. “You lost the game and move on.”

*****There were diverging views on whether the Sharks should be satisfied with getting a split in the two games at Joe Louis Arena.

“We wanted to finish it tonight. I’m not happy with a split and I don’t think anyone here is,” Boyle said. “We wanted to win tonight and now they’ve got momentum going on their side. We need to get back to work and use our home ice to our advantage and get back to starting quickly and playing well.”

And not that Clowe was happy with a split, but here’s what he had to say: “We won two at home. We came in here and got a split and you kind of look for that on the road. We’re coming home up 3-1.”

*****The Red Wings first goal came when Boyle attempted a one-timer, only to have the puck go virtually nowhere off his stick. The Red Wings took advantage of that and the play headed down the ice in the opposite direction, with Todd Bertuzzi showing more finesse than many might give him credit for by spinning away from Dany Heatley and launching a backhand shot that beat Antti Niemi from 33 feet out.

“That was one of those hockey plays,” said Boyle. “Zetterberg’s got his stick right there, it’s two sticks coming in there. that’s just a hockey play. That happens all the time. I usually blame myself for a lot of things, but that was just a hockey play. We’ve got to do a better job of getting back into our own end.”

*****McLellan said the Red Wings did a better job of getting to loose pucks than the Sharks. So was that because Detroit was a step faster than it had been, or because the Sharks slowed down a bit?

“A combination of both,” he said. “Those are the best legs they’ve had in the series so far and that widens the gap a little bit. And then our lack of legs and lack of execution widens it even more. We’ve said all along it’s going to be a play, it’s going to be a bounce that makes a difference and when the gap gets a little wider, one team takes advantage of it.”

*****A pure travel day for me tomorrow. Mark Emmons will be at Sharks Ice to pick up the story.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.